Ex-Maryland Lawyer Gets Probation for Role in Insurance Scam

Authorities say a former Maryland attorney who pleaded guilty to insurance fraud has been sentenced to two years of probation.

State Attorney General Brian Frosh’s office said in a news release Tuesday that Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn also ordered 48-year-old James Wu to pay $4,140 in restitution.

Wu, a resident of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was a licensed attorney in Maryland but has been disbarred.

Frosh’s office says Wu represented four insurance claimants accused of staging a car crash in Baltimore. The attorney general’s news release says one of the claimants told Wu that the crash had been orchestrated and was faked.

Frosh’s office says Wu misappropriated a $7,800 payout for the insurance claim and kept more than half of the money for his legal fee.